Arrived in Queensland

Over the last few days we have travelled, and stayed at a number of very pleasant and picturesque sites, all found in Camps 8 Australia Wide - the grey nomads’ bible.  The descriptions of the various rest areas all over the country are always spot on and it is a must and a great guide for the camping traveller.  

Copeton Waters Holiday Park, between Bingara and Inverell was a very nice place to stay a day at, do the laundry and wash a rather muddy Maxi.  The park is state owned and extremely nicely laid out.  Very popular with people who have their own boats and who fish. There is a reasonably hefty day charge.  Glen Riddle Recreation Reserve and the Gwydir River camps - both free - too were great spots to stay.

Today we crossed the border into Queensland.  The Dumaresq River forms the boundary here between NSW and Qld and we took a picture of the sign of the town of Texas, Qld.

The Dumaresq River rest area is the most amazingly popular free camp site we have ever come across.  There are no toilet facilities and only self-contained vehicles are allowed.  But there are about 30 motor homes and  caravans here.  The maximum stay allowed is 14 days and quite a few we have spoken to are near that limit.  And we found to our delight that we got four bar reception on the phone which allowed us internet access.  We have been finding on this trip that Vodafone gets us very poor reception generally, which we knew from previous trips.  Hence our frequent visits to McDonald where there is free wi-fi.  But here in Texas we can sit inside Winnie and search the internet and update this blog - heaven.

The camp ground extends over the bridge with NSW on one side and Qld on the other.  Tents abound on the NSW side where there is unlimited stay allowed with the picturesque Dumeresq River dividing the camping area.

We are told that there are clean toilets and free showers in the town, 1 km away.  Now that is what I call an RV friendly town – a sign often seen at towns, but Texas, Qld means it!

This little dog has only three legs, due to an infection in the bone.  But she is very happy hopping along with the front leg missing.

Here is the resident pea hen. Very tame and friendly to humans, but aggressive towards dogs.

Visiting Abercrombie Caves and Hill End

Here is a photo of us sitting in the sun at our very first camping spot at the Abercrombie River.

Andrew on a swing bridge at the Abercrombie Caves NP.  We left Maxi in the van while we had a look around.

Arch Cave.  Very spectacular.

Andrew walking with Maxi down the lovely tree lined street towards the old gold mining town of Hill End where we stayed a night.

Could not resist taking this shot of a kangaroo grazing in front of one of the old churches in the town.

We had coffee at the old Grocery Store and took a photo of the guy walking down with his dog and pet goat.

Setting off in Winnie our new motor home

We have missed the grey nomad lifestyle and we went out to look for a new (to us) motor home. Here is Winnie, our 7m Winnibago.  She is very similar in setup to the lovely motor home in which we travelled around the US, Canada and Baja, Mexico in 2013/14.

We are setting off on 26 April 2017 and heading north.  Maxi, our little Jack Russell x is coming with us and we will be searching for dog friendly spots to stop at.  Alas, no national parks for us this trip - the price we pay for having our canine fellow traveller.  At the beginning of June, we hope to meet up with friends somewhere in Queensland.  They are travelling in their own van and also have a little dog.  We will then travel together until end of August.